After reading the article, I felt compelled to point out that the superstition runs deep - while there are many things where items appear in 13's, there are a few where normal math indicates it should be used, and it isn't.

If you visit a hotel that has more than 12 floors, you will typically notice that the buttons in the elevator will jump from 12 to 14. And apparently hotels are not the only multi-level building with the 13th floor missing. I was installing access control in a building once, and took the opportunity since it was currently under construction at the time, to ask around as to why the elevator skipped from 12 to 14.

I was told simply that it was bad luck to number a floor as 13, and that ignoring this little unwritten "rule" will "always lead to bad things".

Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Boards, MadScientist267, we're glad to have you with us. For future ref, when you start a thread about one of Cecil's columns, it's helpful to provide a link to that column. In this case, I assume, it's: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/...idered-unlucky

The link helps keep us on the same page (people don't need to post what's already in the column) and saves searching time. No biggie, you'll know for next time. And, as I say, welcome!